(Untitled)

[favorthebold]

Characters: Ilyigan (favorthebold) and Mona Lisa (vile_queen)
Date/Time: Backdated to April 20th
Location: Let's say Mona's house? (Jackie?)
Rating: Likely up to PG-13
Summary: Mona gives Ilyigan her vial of dream dust for testing. One cocoon nap later...

Comments

[vile_queen]

"Perhaps." It was more than likely that those who were friends of previous recipients had been warned. It was how many operated. She was no longer entirely new; there was no reason to expect any out-of-their-way assistance.

"And yet one might think that they could use more allies here, when all are trapped prisoners. It costs one nothing, I would think, to warn of what happens when a vial is given. But there is no way to speculate usefully at this time on why no one spoke of it. I do not have enough information, and gathering such may well take some time." It was annoying, but she hadn't planned on relying on the good will of others anyway.

Mona's eyes narrowed when he explained. That was not just hers. It was hers. It and her hat were everything she had of who she was, and it had just been shown... If she was to be impartial, likely little harm had been done. He'd had it confirmed that he was in her dream, he'd already known she was ambitious. But the little girl was private. Personal. The little girl was her at what was likely her most vulnerable.

Refusing to cross her arms (it was too defensive) or pacing (it demonstrated stress), Mona simply nodded. Her face was not at all happy, and her voice was not gentle, but her frustration wasn't targeted at him. He had not caused that to happen. "Forget the girl. But at least you now have it confirmed that I did not lie to you. Not that I believe that was required; there is enough to say we are both familiar to each other. But you have that. And the source of my name." One painting that she didn't understand the full importance of, even if there were vague feelings of it. Mona was not at all happy that all of this had just been handed to someone else. "I would know if it is just you, or if each who was cocooned saw that. One way or another, I will find out."

[favorthebold]

Without even trying to hide that fact, Ilyigan watched her like a hawk all while speaking. There was some judgement in that gaze, yes, and a profound interest. What will she do? How will she react? The dream had not actually told him much, not even the girl. There was no one who didn't have at least one crack in them, one weak spot, and if that was hers... then he didn't want it, he realized with a faint shock. He did not want to hold that knowledge of the line along which she could be broken. The idea of killing her had occurred to him before, when they had just met and he realized that this woman had some power over him. The idea of breaking her... no.

He watched her simmering stillness - her rage was obvious, but all but frozen, contained - and allowed his strange admiration to flourish, for once. Perhaps she was only a woman, but there was something to her that was fearsome just at that moment, and he wondered if she would strike out at him. Not physically, of course, but there were plenty of ways to strike - and women had their own ways, too. No doubt he could goad her into it...

... but no.

"I have that, yes." He nodded, his voice low. "That I ran besides you, though I don't fancy myself a running man." There was a subtle reminder there, that she had seen into his own mind, as well. He'd played down the meaning of his running dream, naturally enough, but was not himself oblivious to it.

He leaned back a little in his seat, wary, suddenly, of the intensity of the moment. "Perhaps they will not hide it from you - what they saw. You have some names at least. Perhaps some of them are the honest sort."

[vile_queen]

He was watching at every moment, and Mona still did not know her exact connection to him. Nor did she know what all he was capable of. He was not what one would call 'good,' she was sure of it. And while she doubted her own 'goodness,' she knew his form was dangerous. He could turn on her. He could kill her, likely. Especially with the ice. Sometimes Mona wondered why she was trusting him at all, but seeing him reinforced the connection she could feel. There was something about him that made her not wish to avoid him, no matter how much safer she might be.

Mona's gaze flickered to him at the mention of running. "I took it as symbolic, those who ran beside me. But I do not know if my own running was as symbolic. It seemed... no. It felt more literal. There was a joy to it." She blinked, suddenly becoming aware of another possibility, one more disturbing than someone just seeing their dream. "Did you feel it as well? The moods? The emotions? Or was it simply a series of scenes, played out before your eyes?"

At least there was the possibility that others had seen other things. After all, no one had said what these cocoons showed. Maybe it was the dream of someone they were near that they would recieve; she had certainly stayed close. "Perhaps. I believe there was one who was arranging a sitting of sorts who would have names of those who were cocooned, and from there I can ascertain which is the most likely to answer truthfully."

[favorthebold]

"I..." somehow, Ilyigan hesitated. He could not lie, but he realized then that he could also not truly be sure of anything he had felt. Somewhere in the contact between his mind and her memories, the sense of 'self' blurred, especially when his own idea of who he was was as yet none too solid. The idea of being in her skin quite so thoroughly was disturbing, an alien sort of empathy. "I lived it," he finally settled for saying. "I cannot truly say what that means. It isn't mine." He had no wish to claim it, one way or another.

Suddenly, and very much despite himself, an intense feeling of relief flooded him: that it had not been the other way around, not her opening the vial to experience his birth-dream, assuming that this would have been the case. The emotion was so out of proportion to what he might expected that it utterly confused him. What was it about that memory that screamed to him never let another know? Ill at ease, he shifted in his seat, not really minding that she saw his discomfort with the situation. It was a perfectly legitimate reason to be unsettled.

"Some at least are bound to be sympathetic. We have all had birth dreams. We all know that they are all we truly own." He mused without really thinking of how that could be construed as rubbing salt in a wound. Looking for sympathy was a bizarre notion, but need was need, and there were no bad means toward a worthwhile end.

[vile_queen]

"Very well." It wasn't the exact answer she was looking for, but if he didn't have it, then he couldn't give it. She would not push for something more; it made no sense to do so. In fact, all it could possibly do was alienate him.

Mona wondered if she should have kept it, what she might have seen or learned. But it was done, and there was no reason to dwell. The past stayed in the past.

"I hardly want several people to suddenly have sympathy. But that is preferable to being looked down upon due to this. I wish to make an impact, but this is not the way I desired for it to start. Nonetheless I can only move forward. And perhaps there is a way to use it to my advantage. If there is to be sympathy, such a thing can be played upon." She was still not happy, but a small smirk played on her lips. Whatever the Tree had intended, she could turn it around.

[favorthebold]

Ah, yes, this was better - certainly better. Moving forward. He should not have had doubts, Ilyigan thought, if she was anything like he was beginning to come to terms with her being, then the doubts were foolish. If it was a game that she was set to play against the Tree, then it was a grand one: moves like this should only be expected, and a player who could not keep up with them would not last the first round. A touch of excitement rose over his unease. Whatever she did next, he wanted to witness it.

"Is that so," he said with a chuckle. "You fancy your chances, I see. Well, it's hardly unfair, seeing as no one here thinks it right to speak openly." Not that fairness was important, but the secrecy galled him. He did not like feeling like a fool of a newcomer.

"But you know, doma," he added after a moment, again thoughtful. "Somehow I doubt that this was the real purpose behind this exercise, whoever it was that initiated it. This colorful sand seems too rare a substance to use in a cruel prank."

[vile_queen]

It was a comfort to know that she seemingly hadn't lost respect in his eyes. That was rather important. He'd seen her vulnerable and hadn't returned to viewing her as just a woman again. While Mona was certain that the sentiment still lingered, that he would continue to look down on her for her gender, she could still hope to win her point one day.

"There is little to do but take a chance here. I will not sit idly by. It may do for some, but it will not for me. I would gain no pleasure from dying, but I would gain less from doing nothing." She disliked ignorance just as much. Accomplishing took knowledge, and knowledge was hard come by, here.

Mona tapped her chin. "You are correct. So it had more meaning than just a taunt. The ones whom I know received it..." She flipped through the journal, looking for clues, and her eyes landed on the entry by Locke. She'd glanced at it before, during the day. "Every one of them replied here. There is not a one who did not. And he spoke of dreams. Perhaps then it was no prank, but something intended. Though what that says I know not."

[favorthebold]

They were bold statements, he thought, but not uninspiring - not empty. In a sense, with a sort of self-knowledge that almost surprised him, Ilyigan knew that he had not yet quite stomached his situation yet - this imprisonment in so vast a prison, this dogged uncertainty that accompanied every decision. Perhaps he never will. And perhaps that was best. In his mind, he simply took it for granted that some breakthrough was possible. If not by knowledge, then by force.

Perhaps it was good that she was there to speak for knowledge - even, he supposed, for caution. Or else, well, he was not altogether sure just what he might have done.

"No." He nodded. "Sitting by is no option at all. But we will not die so easily." He will not, at least. And now she was under his protection.

He moved to look over her shoulder at the journal, thinking nothing of the gesture. So they had all the names, at least - and the hand of the dubious prankster, as well. "Perhaps creating some connection between different people was all that he meant to do," he mused. "It's a clever thing for a rebel to do, to set others to his dirty work."

[vile_queen]

Mona shook her head. "No. We will not." They seemed by far to be more intelligent than the general public of Edensphere, and she did not doubt his abilities to fight back should need be. Though he hadn't managed to combat the sand... No. That did not mean anything in regard to his capabilities. It was seperate, something having to do with this Locke, and not an actual attack.

As he moved, Mona noted that the position did not seem imposing. He was behind her, right there, and it did not bother her. Another clue, perhaps, as to how they had worked together previously.

"Clever indeed, and potentially useful. It speaks as to his personality, that he is recruiting without actually showing himself. Anyone may call themself by any name; that he is calling himself Locke now does not mean he will not change it tomorrow. And handwriting can be disguised." She contemplated for a moment later. "He does not trust us, clearly. But perhaps he also does not trust those around him. He bears watching, at the very least."

[favorthebold]

"Watching, and that is all?" She was right - there were so many unknowns. He imagined himself standing in a battlefield at the dead of night knowing that violence was to take place but having no sight of either army's banners. What did you do, when all that you knew was that you knew nothing?

"There must be some things that we can safely assume," he said with a touch of irritation, not at her but of a general sort. A restlessness that crackled in his limbs like electricity. "He is a crowd-stirrer - this doesn't have the feel of someone who wants only to smoke out true rebels. He is a man who gambles on others. He is at least a little bit desperate." They were all impressions that he was certain of, but they yielded frustratingly little information. "It's the others' dreams that I wonder about most. If they saw different things, then the pattern's the clue to it. If they all saw your dream through his trick, then..." he paused, and glanced down at her, eyes narrowed.

"Well, what is it about you?"

[vile_queen]

Mona considered the question, looking past Ilyigan for a moment. "I believe that for now watching and conversing with him will suffice. We do not know why he gave the dream out, but it is clear he has access to resources we do not. While he is willing to give he should be worked with. When he ceases to be of use, then it will be time to do more." It was practical. There were too many possible dangers for her to be anything aside from practical.

"Desperate. I think you are accurate. But what is he desperate for? To get home? To gain power? There is some threat he is worried about, but not so much that he is unafraid to speak, so perhaps it is larger than the concerns that most are focused on."

She returned the direct look. There was a little bit of annoyance in her tone; Mona did not appreciate admitting ignorance. "I do not know. Perhaps it is tied to the way that I knew Crystala already, and that my Greeter knew me. Perhaps it is something I have yet to learn."

[favorthebold]

Practical was rarely very satisfying, and yet Ilyigan conceded. For now, he thought - for now. But he felt it in his bones that he was not a man who did his work by watching and talking. That was all good and well for Mona, perhaps, and he could leave it to her. But there would be other, further action for him to take, or he would create it himself.

"You'd think that the stakes would be clear," he said with an irate shake of his head. "Tampered with and caged, that's all of us, exiles together. But perhaps it is wrong to assume that it's his memories that he wants. But if he rebels, well - it means that whatever does hold power, it has some weakness, some fragile places." It was good to remind himself of that.

Her annoyance was obvious, and easy to understand. Edensphere carried even more frustration for her than for most, he reflected, and was briefly angry himself. But curiosity was stronger, personal as well as general. "For all that we know, you may have been here before... may even have held some position."

[vile_queen]

She didn't entirely expect him to wait and be practical. Someone with the abilities such as he had would not need to be, and his temperment didn't speak to him exercising more self-control than he required. Nonetheless, he drew her.

"The stakes are death. Of the body and of self, for I am given to understand that when one dies here they lose some of what they have of who they are, their memories, their dream. And while it is a high cost, inactivity is far more costly." She nodded. "Every fortress has a weak spot. One must only find that place. This man may well know of it, or know one who does. We will find it."

The theory fit with the little she had. "There is one who may well know - my Greeter. He seemed to know of me. I already intended to seek another meeting with him. Now it has become a priority."

[favorthebold]

That, Ilyigan had not known - not that there was a price to returning to life. He'd gathered already that death needn't be permanent in the Sphere, and was more amazed by how easily he swallowed that fact than by the fact itself. Now, with this added knowledge, he was once again startled to discover: "I cannot guess why, but that seems right somehow." His voice was low with deep thought. "That a dead man may live again for a price. I can't understand it." It was perverse, after all, unnatural. More unnatural than most everything else. And yet.

He shook his head. He had no intention of dying - none whatsoever. He didn't even care to contemplate it.

"Oh?" So there was someone - it sounded like a solid lead. "It sounds as though he wasn't very forthcoming." Why did not one dare speak in this place?

[vile_queen]

She tilted her head, studying Ilyigan. "Then this is something we do have in common." Among all the differences there was that. "I do not know what it suggests, however, for it also seems incorrect at the same time as it is familiar." Death was death. One didn't come back to life except here... and clearly somewhere else. Or during something else.

A smile played on Mona's lips. "No. He was not. He teased, a great deal. But I believe that if I am to speak with him again, when I am more settled, Lezard will be more useful and informative." He was a flirt. But he was an intelligent and charming flirt, and she could see his inclinations. Perhaps he could be an ally. At the same time, though, she could tell she was walking something of a dangerous line, because something told her Lezard and Ilyigan might not get togther entirely well.

[favorthebold]

"Do we, then?" They had met before, he already treated that as a given, but now this was an unexpected turn nonetheless. Whenever it was that they had met, he thought suddenly, that place had already been unnatural. Not like Edensphere itself, perhaps, but still, a strange land. While not an answer to any question, it nonetheless reflected back - on how unnatural the connection between them was, how unusual, how unique.

"Death is nothing to be played at," he said after a moment, slipping briefly deeper. "But if the gods of this place will it so, who am I to argue?" Perhaps there was a daring to this, too. To treat death as only another temporary obstacle.

And then, perhaps not. Perhaps that was defying things that should not be defied.

He was more comfortable with the immediate questions and their potential answers, with this new name - Lezard. If it was a name at all. "Teased, did he. Does he think to hold something over you, then?"